TOURISM RECREATION RESEARCH VOL. 37(1), 2012: 99-102
Book Reviews
Places of the Imagination: Media, Tourism, Culture
By Stijn Reijnders
Ashgate, Farnham, Surrey, UK, 2011
Pp. 174+ ; Price: £50.00 (Hbk); ISBN: 978-1-4094-1977-8
Using carefully selected and crafted examples Reijnders
has drawn together a number of threads of evidence to
support his basic contention that the attraction of tourists to
the scenes of fictional stories has increased in both scale and
popularity in recent years to become an identifiable niche in
both the global tourist market and in the spectrum of tourism
research. His case is that, not only is this an identifiable
phenomenon but it also has the potential to provide insights
into the reasons for tourists seeking particular experiences.
For this study Reijnders prefers to use the inclusive term
'media tourism' to extend his remit beyond, for example, the
studies of literary tourism, 'TV tourism' and movie or filminduced tourism (for these see, Beeton, 2005; Watson, 2006;
and a gradual accumulation of papers in tourism journals
including, for example, Herbert, 2001). This study carefully
focuses attention on locations and attractions linked to
popular novels, and to film and television series, and even
within that frame of reference, to the physical 'evidence'
which has become associated with the stories within each of
those mediums. However, this does not restrict the scope of
the study to the places per se, even though the author
frequently refers to the 'landscape'; rather, the intention of
this study has been to explore the 'places of the imagination'
- the author uses the expression lieux de memoire drawing
on the perceptions of the French historian Pierre Nora - and
the appropriation of the places as the tourists engage with
the stories, the events, and the actors, as they conjure up for
themselves their own interpretations of what has happened
at those places, and as the tourism industry responds by
accommodating the various levels of touristic interest.
After a chapter (2) which explains the theoretical
framework which is to be used in the study, Reijnders has
segregated his studies into three types - TV detectives
(chapters 3 and 4), James Bond (chapters 5 and 6), and
Dracula (chapter 7). He uses a concluding chapter (8) to draw
the various threads together so as to 'present an integrated
picture of media tourism as a cultural phenomenon' (p.9),
and to point out the similarities and differences between
media tourism and pilgrimage (pp. 103-109).
The introductory chapter usefully sets the scene,
referring to some of the explorations of tourists to satisfy an
appetite for experiences which can be linked to, for example,
Copyright ©2012 Tourism Recreation Research
the settings of fictional stories and especially the principal
characters and events in those stories. His examples range
across the Inspector Morse series of TV detective stories, the
Da Vinci Code, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and a range of
other films and American and British TV series. Underlying
Reijnders' quest is his search for answers to such questions
as why some media products stimulate media tourism whilst
others do not, why tourists seem to fixate on particular story
characteristics, why some media genres generate their own
expressions of tourism, how a story becomes anchored to
particular places and environments and then becomes
dominated by that linkage, and what is the continuity of
impact on the community in which the story takes place.
These various questions are placed into a theoretical
framework in Chapter 2. Reijnders sets out to construct an
investigative and explanatory framework combining aspects
of the work of the French historian Pierre Nora and the
American anthropologist John Caughey; from this he derives
his conceptualization of lieux d'imagination. In pages 17-20
he explains his model framework as a circular process which
links imagination and reality, involving a 'creative
transformation' (p.17) in which the artists (authors,
scriptwriters, film directors) use inspiration from their
knowledge of places, events and even existing texts to create
sensory experiences in the forms of a cultural product - a
book, television series, or film. These products then become
appropriated and interpreted by consumers - fans and
enthusiasts are Reijnders' terms - leading eventually to a
different and media-based tourism product. Even if there is
some authenticity to the story being presented, the case being
made is that the consumer (fan, enthusiast) re-creates an
imaginary world and setting for the 'new' product, and that
this process is aided and abetted by local businesses and
organizations in the formation of tourism attractions.
From this point, Reijnders segments his analysis and
interpretation into three parts. In the first part (Chapters 3
and 4) he focuses attention on the 'landscape of the TV
detective'. Three case studies are used: Inspector Morse
(UK), Wallender (Sweden) and Baantjer (Netherlands).
Although there are distinctive differences in setting and
storyline, there are similarities in the experiential role
expected of the viewer/consumer. In the analysis of the three
cases an attempt was made to explain how the content (place,
character, action, event, and even the narrative) might
contribute to a product of touristic interest. It was concluded
that 'the experience of place has a central role' (p.35) and
that the visualized landscape would be an inevitable magnet
and attraction for tourism, not least because of the
prominence of any crime scene. This general interpretation
was then tested in the three locations associated with the
detectives - Morse in Oxford, Wallender in Ystad and Baantjer
Book Reviews
in Amsterdam - with interviews conducted with tour guides,
tourist office and municipal employees, supplemented by
participant observation.
Attention is then turned to what Reijnders describes as
'media pilgrimages into the world of James Bond (Part 2,
and Chapters 5 and 6). The Bond travels, and the range of
venues and settings used in the Bond stories comprise a
considerably greater spectrum than those of the three
detectives. It is the very diversity of locations and settings,
and even the storylines which provides the raw materials
for the lieux d'imagination. It is the exploits and persona of
the imaginary hero and the often exotic locations and settings
which influence the memory-bank of the consumers, and
which underpin the expectations of the tourists.
As for Part 3, and its single chapter (7), the focus is on
the legendary Count Dracula. Although there is some factual
evidence to the legend, most of the stories about Dracula are
fictitious and are set in largely imagined locations and
settings in the Carpathian mountain regions of Romania.
These locations have been fixed in the mind by the settings
used in the many films which have told the stories of the
Count; and these have been largely the product of the
imagination of the film directors. Much of the tourist trade is
derived from visits by Dracula aficionados, such as members
of literary associations and fan clubs, with a diversity of
motivations including attempts to match their imaginations
(based on what they have read or seen on film) with the
physical circumstances of 'Transylvania' and the emotions
which are generated by the settings of the stories.
So: what can be learnt from this study ? Does it take
previous studies further ? Does it re-direct or give new
insights into media-influenced tourism activity ? By crossing
the media genres does it contribute to improved levels of
understanding of the influence of the media on tourism ?
Does it reveal a new segment of tourists ? Is there a new
investigative and/or explanatory framework here which not
only exposes some of the intricacies of this niche of tourism
activity but which may be used if suitably reconfigured to
delve more deeply into the more narrowly-focused forms of
film-induced and literature-induced tourism ? Importantly,
does the study address its own questions (posed in Chapter
1) ?
As the commentary on the back cover suggests
'Reijnders has produced a lucid and engaging book'. Anyone
looking to improve their level of awareness about the
I
potential
impact of various media forms on tourism will find
this book both 'lucid and engaging'. The essential problem
for this reviewer is that this worthwhile study has been given
only summary treatment; for example, Beeton's canvas is
100
about 280 pages and Watson's about 250, and these each
focus on only one of the forms engaged with by Reijnders.
There is, of course, no magic in quantity, but this reviewer
formed the opinion that more evidence, discussion and
interpretation would have made the case being presented
both more engaging and more conclusive. The twenty-six
pages of Appendix presented as full verbatim records to
support 'a truthful account' (p.115) was an embellishment
which might be needed in a thesis, but which in this volume
contributed little, not least because there is no linked
summary and interpretation and because the interviews were
'selected' and no explanation was offered for the choice. This
is an interesting and engaging contribution to examinations
about what promotes tourism activity; Reijnders set himself
an ambitious task and may need a companion volume to
meet the challenges which he himself nominated in the
introductory chapter.
References
BEETON, S. (2005). Film-induced Tourism. Clevedon. Channel View
Publications.
HERBERT, D. (2001). Literary Places, Tourism and Heritage Experience.
Annals of Tourism Research 28(2): 312–333.
WATSON, N. (2006). The Literary Tourist: Readers and Places in Romantic
and Victorian Britain. Basingstoke, Palgrave. Macmillan
Michael Fagence
School of Geography,
Planning and Environmental Management,
The University of Queensland, Brisbane
e-mail: mtfagence@uq.edu.au
Heritage Tourism in Southeast Asia
Edited by Michael Hitchcock, Victor T. King and Michael
Parnwell
NIAS Press, Copenhagen, 2010
Pp. xiv+322; Price: £18.99(Pbk); ISBN: 978-87-7694-060-7
This pioneering volume, a sequel to the Editors'
comprehensive collection on Southeast Asian tourism
(Hitchcock, King and Parnwell 2009), examines some
fundamental issues in the interface of heritage and tourism
in Southeast Asian countries. Its principal focus, as stated
by the editors, is on "disputes and conflicts over what heritage
is, what it means and how it is presented, re-presented,
developed and protected, set against a back-drop of the
demands, motivations and impacts of heritage tourism" (p.
1). By destabilizing the conventional concept of "heritage,"
the editors and contributors open up several complex
problems and dilemmas in the selection, establishment,
development and management of Southeast Asian (and , by
extension, Asian) heritage sites.
Tourism Recreation Research Vol. 37, No. 1, 2012
Book Reviews
The focus of most contributions is on UNESCO's World
Heritage Sites (WHS), the creation of which constitutes the
most important effort in the preservation of the Southeast
Asian heritage, but also serves as one of the most acute
manifestations of those problems and dilemmas. The volume
includes case studies of several actual or potential WHSs,
such as the Tana Toraja on Sulawesi in Indonesia (Kathleen
Adams, Ch. 2), Angkor in Cambodia (Keiko Miura, Ch. 6),
Melaka (Nigel Worden, Ch. 7) and George Town (Gwynn
Jenkins, Ch. 8) in Malaysia, Hue (Mark Johnson, Ch. 9) and
Ha Long Bay (Michael Parnwell, Ch. 12) in Vietnam (the
latter compared with Phang Nga Bay in Thailand, which
does not enjoy a WHS status). Also included in the volume
are some other heritage case studies, such as that of the Wulai
weavers of Taiwan (Mami Yoshimura and Geoffrey Wall,
Ch. 3), of museums in Singapore (Can-Seng Ooi, Ch. 5), of
outdoor ethnographic museums in Taiwan and Indonesia
(Michael Hitchcock and Nick Stanley, Ch. 4), and of heritage
attractions (Wantanee Suntikul, Richard Butler and David
Airey, Ch. 10) and crafts (Michael Hitchcock, Nguyen Thi
Thu Huong and Simone Wesner, Ch.11) in Vietnam.
A basic problem, to which many of the ambiguities and
tensions surrounding the selection and development of
Southeast Asian heritage sites are related, is that the regional
languages do not possess terms which "strictly mean heritage
as people in the West tend to see it" (p. 268); moreover, the
Western-centered concept of "heritage preservation" is not
fully applicable to many regional sites, since, owing to the
climatic and ecological conditions of the region and the
materials used, many of them had to be frequently renovated
and rebuilt in the past. Continuity of use, rather than of
materials, thus became a criterion of heritage sites selection
(Editors, p. 7).
The selection, development and management of major
heritage sites, is a complex affair, often involving
international, national and local organizations and agents,
with differing, and sometimes conflicting approaches and
agendas. Hence, as the Editors pointed out disputes often
arise about " the ownership of heritage, its appropriate use
[and] access to it as against conservation needs" (p. 1).
The major actor on the international level, UNESCO,
"has a clearly articulated definition of what constitutes a
World Heritage Site," namely, that "certain locales embodied
properties of 'outstanding universal value' and deserved
international conservation efforts" (Adams, pp. 32-33). But
the nomination of a "heritage landscape" for WHS status is a
complex, contested matter, involving "local responses to and
engagement with regional, national and global political,
cultural and economic dynamics" (ibid p. 30), a process richly
illustrated in Adams' detailed case study of the selection of a
Tourism Recreation Research Vol. 37, No. 1, 2012
Toraja site on Sulawesi island (Indonesia) for potential WHS
status.
As the Editors point out, in the past, the "planning
process and the evaluation of the importance of UNESCO
heritage sites of international importance have tended to be
formulated in a top-down fashion without meaningful
consultation with the local inhabitants." Local cultural
meanings of heritage sites have hence been often disregarded
(Editors, p.18). Consequently, as several contributors noted,
once a site has been selected for preservation, it was taken
out of circulation from the flow of everyday life, and became
"frozen in time" (Suntikul, Butler and Airey, p. 210 ). This
issue is particularly acute, as Myura points out, in cases in
which the preserved heritage site is spacious and inhabited,
such as the huge Angkor WHS complex in Cambodia, whose
resident population turns it into a "living heritage site"(p.
104). Myura claims that, after realizing "the negative impact
of removing the local residents from [heritage] sites," a shift
in policy has emerged, "from just preserving the monuments
and sites as representing a 'frozen idealized past' devoid of
people…to making the site 'living' and more integral with
local people who are therefore not to be resettled" (p.106-7).
The Editors remark in their concluding chapter that in the
past "conservation and preservation efforts in Southeast Asia
have led to local people being excluded from the land they
occupied and resources they utilized prior to their heritage,
and its conservation, being designated as a national and
global concern;" recently, however, some progress has been
made in that respect: "there has been a move to nurture 'living
heritage sites' in which communities can maintain their
livelihoods whilst providing a back-drop of human interest
[to the heritage sites];" but the "implementation of effective
action at the local level is often hampered by prevailing
political and personal power interests" (p. 269).
Another topic of central concern in this volume is the
role of heritage preservation and representation in national
identity politics in Southeast Asian countries. The Editors
assert that a major theme raised in the collection, are "the
ways in which heritage has been subject to selection,
construction and contestation in the context of more general
processes of local and national identity formation" (p. 2).
Hitchcock and Stanley show how ethnographic museums
in Indonesia and Taiwan serve to consolidate national
cohesion, as well as to present ethnic and national identity.
But such presentation is often a contested matter, as shown
in Worden's study of Melaka, whose "heritage is not only a
product for the tourist market but… has also been a central
element in the construction of a highly contested
contemporary Malaysian identity" (p. 130). Worden
discusses in some detail "the ways in which Melaka's
heritage has been "constructed, contested, promoted and
101
Book Reviews
changed" since independence. Suntikul, Butler and Airey
(Ch. 10) are also aware of the "significance of heritage sites
in symbolically representing a group, community or nation;"
however, they point to the contested nature of such
representation, since "a number of communities…[may] claim
to representation in any site;" groups "with different interests
and backgrounds" might patronize the same site, "but to
each of [them] the site must 'speak' differently" (p. 2).
Heritage conservation in Southeast Asia has in the
past been implicitly planned and managed with a view to
attract Western tourists. However, in the recent decade or so
the number of domestic visitors and tourists from other Asian
countries increased enormously and far outstripped that of
Western tourists. This led to a marked change in the
composition of the visiting public to heritage sites. Suntikul,
Butler and Airey (Ch. 10) stress that there is no "single
'meaning' for any given heritage attraction," and that "the
expectations and cultural backgrounds of domestic tourists
differ from those of international tourists," and hence
"different types of tourists will perceive and consume heritage
attractions differently" (p. 203). Johnson points out with
reference to the old city of Hue, that such differences might
raise concerns among researchers and practitioners that
"frivolous Vietnamese [domestic] visitors, identified as
Vietnam's nouveaux riches " might dilute "the meaning and
authenticity of the site" (p. 174). The Editors therefore make
an important point in their conclusions, that European
models for tourism management "have proved inadequate
to cope with the explosion in facilities aimed at the Northeast
and Southeast Asian markets". However, they point out that,
102
though some contributors addressed that issue, ‘it remains
unclear…how precisely [Western concepts of heritage
tourism] have been adapted to local conditions and
implemented in very varied cultural, political and historical
circumstances’ (p. 266).
This book thus reveals the problem of the inadequacy
of Western approaches to heritage preservation and
management, due to the rapidly changing character of
Southeast Asian tourism, but -as contemporary tourism
studies in general - offers few leads as to how to deal with it.
As in tourism studies in general, so in heritage tourism, new
theoretical and practical approaches are called for. The
Editors and contributors to this valuable volume will
hopefully make some bold efforts in the future to propose
such approaches, which might revolutionize out thinking
about the meaning of "heritage," and the ways to manage it,
in a context dominated by domestic and Asian, rather than
Western tourists.
Reference
HITCHCOCK, M., KING, V. T. and PARNWELL, M. (2009). Tourism
in Southeast Asia: Challenges and New Directions. Copenhagen: NIAS
Press.
Note: An earlier version of this review was published
electronically in Aseasuk News No. 49, 2011, pp.9-12.
Erik Cohen
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
e-mail: mserik@mscc.huji.ac.il
Tourism Recreation Research Vol. 37, No. 1, 2012